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Disaster procedures

Disaster relief

The IRS typically grants tax relief to taxpayers in presidentially declared disaster areas (for example, areas affected by hurricane, fire, flood, tornado, or other disasters natural or otherwise). Tax relief may include:
  • Postponed filing deadlines
  • Postponed deadlines for administrative requests
  • Abatement of penalties and interest
  • Carryback of casualty losses
  • Waiver of certain administrative fees
The IRS issues a News Release for each presidentially declared disaster containing specific relief provisions. Go to Tax Relief in Disaster Situations for a full list of disaster area situations from the IRS. State agencies may or may not follow the IRS disaster relief provisions so refer to the applicable state agency for guidance.

Affected clients

The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies filing and payment relief based on their ZIP Code. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area need to call the IRS disaster hotline at 866.562.5227 to request tax relief.

Due date

For 1040 clients, go to the Payments folder, then the Pen screen. Enter the adjusted due date in the
Disaster relief date
 field. The date entered in this field will be applied to the return due date, estimated tax payment due dates, penalty and interest calculations, and client documents.
For all other entities, you'll need to manually adjust the due date in the client documents. You'll also need to suppress penalties if any are calculating.

E-filing

All returns (whether affected by disaster or not) need to be paper filed during the annual IRS MeF shut down period.
You may not need to make any special arrangements or requests with the taxing authority. The IRS allows any tax return (for clients affected by a disaster or not) from the current year and 2 prior years to be e-filed; therefore a return could be e-filed through the end of 2025. Contact the taxing authority that will be processing the return if you have questions about e-filing for clients who qualify for disaster relief.

Electronic Funds Withdrawal (EFW)

Because returns affected by disasters are often filed after the original due date, there are some special considerations for EFW.
  • If you file a return before the original due date and the disaster relief due date is after the original due date, the EFW requested payment date can't be later than the original due date.
  • If you file a return after the original due date, the EFW requested payment date can't be later than the date you transmit the e-file to the IRS.
  • Electronic funds withdrawal information for estimated payments can't be included in the e-file for any estimate due dates that have already passed.
Clients may be able to set up alternate payments by visiting the IRS Make a Payment page.

Updates to UltraTax CS

UltraTax CS isn't typically updated for disaster provisions because you can use data entry in the program to account for such provisions. Refer to the following examples of data entry.

Mark a return as affected

Making a note on a return doesn't designate the taxpayer as qualifying for disaster relief.
You may not need to mark a return as affected by a disaster at all. Refer to IRS Publication 976 to determine if you need to indicate that the return is for a client affected by a disaster. Here are a few options for marking a return.
  • Go to the General input folder, then open the
    General Footnote
     field. You can type any relevant information about the disaster here. This will go with the e-file, but won't be included if you paper file.
  • Select
    Help
    , then
    Tax Subject Index
    . Select
    Tax Subjects
    , then search for
    Special processing
    . Go to that field and enter the name of the disaster there.
    note
    For 1040 returns, you can only choose from the preloaded list of options. This will go with the e-file, but won't be included if you paper file.
  • For paper filing, use the attached text to print a note on the front page of the return.

Penalties

For 1040 clients, penalties are automatically adjusted based on the Disaster relief date you enter on the Pen screen in the Payments folder.
For all other entities, you can stop the calculation of any penalties that the client is not required to pay. Generally, there is a checkbox to suppress penalties in the Payments folder on the Pen screen.

Filing instructions and client letters

If the IRS changed the due date of the return, you can update the filing instructions to reflect the extension of time to file. For 1040 clients, the date will automatically update in your client documents with the date entered in the Disaster relief date field on the Pen screen in the Payments folder.
You can edit the letter(s) by previewing the return, going to the document you want to edit, clicking the Edit button, and typing into the letter.

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